Monday, November 12, 2012

Mumbai Ki Diwali

Mumbai
ki Diwali

I was in Delhi last week and was surprised
when someone told me that Diwali started in Delhi more than a month ago. I
scratched my head to figure that one out. Were we looking at the same calendar?
Had I missed something? My Delhi friend clarified with a laugh. “All I meant
was that the famous taash parties started a month ago.” That was funny. For
most Dilliwallas, Diwali only means
cards. And parties are carefully structured around gambling tables.
Everything else is incidental. As the same host put it, so long as there is
enough daaru, nobody cares. The stakes in Delhi are always high –
metaphorically and literally! The Festival of Lights is now officially known as the Festival
of Cards. Mumbai has its taash fanatics as well, but they are nowhere as
hardcore as their counterparts in the Capital. In fact, this year in Mumbai has
been mercifully brighter but not noisier, thanks to stepped up vigilance that
has inhibited those over enthusiastic phatakawalas from lighting ear shattering
pre-dawn bombs loud enough to wake the dead. Mumbai is at its prettiest during
Diwali, and it’s a treat to drive around streets that are ablaze with diyas and
kandeels. I went to Girgaum as usual for my Diwali shopping and was distraught
on discovering a few significant changes in an otherwise lively locality. Two
of my all-time favourite stores had changed hands. The laddoos simply did not
taste the same. And the fragrant oils I used to buy from an old ittar shop, are
not available any more. But the old gajrawalli is still there, even if her
beautiful shevanti gajras are now priced at thirty rupees. It’s really quite
incredible how Mumbai miraculously gets it all together for a few short days,
and every person participates joyfully in celebrating Diwali - India’s answer to X’Mas.Let’s hope this spirit
of bonhomie and good will spills over to the days ahead, which may be rocky,
given the rapidly changing political equations. What is still more amazing is
the quantum of money floating around , despite spiraling costs and absurd
prices of everything - from diesel to
diamonds. Did anybody foolishly mention inflation?

************

Bollywood is at its glittering and most
glamourous best during Diwali. As always, Sunita Kapoor’s Diwali tofaa was declared the uncontested winner by
all those fortunate enough to receive it. I still have the spectacular candles
she sent two years ago. And her gigantic, hollowed out wooden ‘Books’ this year
are equally impressive. To make a Diwali statement year after year, requires not just an
abundance of resources but an equal amount of good taste, imagination and an
artistic vision. Anil is one lucky man! And so are those of us who enjoy their
generosity year after year.

*************

I’d say one of the most fun evenings during
this festive period was meticulously structured by ‘The Boys’ ( Abu-Sandeep)
for ‘The Girls’. What a novel idea! And how supremely well done! Mumbai and
Delhi…. a tale of two cities that couldn’t be more different. The contrasts
become even more glaring during Diwali. Discretion over vulgarity. Taste over
excess. But ….hey – who cares? Diwali hai! Maja karo!

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Vir Sanghvi in HT Brunch on 11/11/12 said that Delhi does not resent Mumbai but Mumbai resents Delhi and spares no opportunity to crib about it.Reading your interview in Mint on Saturday I had to agree. I have lived in both cities and have got amenities without knowing a single politician.And journalists move to Delhi because believe it or faint,its more intellectual. That is why the best known international writers come from the city. Is there an equivalent of JNU, India Habitat Centre or India International Centre in Mumbai?Yes Delhi does not sit on the fence politically.They go out and support Anna Hazare when his fellow Maharashtrians gave him the royal ignore in Mumbai(And it was because it was X'mas holidays-not because Mumbaikars are busy working. Perhaps Mumbai should be more politically aware and demand amenities.Delhi gets it because they don't hide laziness behind being "too busy"

I guess your inference is based on a limited segmentation, Delhi exist beyond colonies like Vasant Vihaar, New Friends and the sort. Diwali in Delhi has more to out than gambling, if only you could broaden your frame of reference.

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